Resumes are essential for any job search you do.
But let’s be honest, creating an ATS optimized resume is not exactly anyone’s idea of a good time. With so many conflicting pieces of advice, you might feel like you don’t know where to start or what to do.
That’s why we’ve done the heavy lifting for you.
In this guide, we’re giving you 6 easy tips on how to optimize your resume for the ATS. We’ve condensed it into one infographic as well to give you an easy-to-follow resume outline to amaze your recruiters.
Ready for a resume revamp and to land the job of your dreams? Read on below!
What Is An ATS Optimized Resume?
As it sounds, an ATS optimized resume means ensuring your application is qualified to beat the resume scanners.
Nearly all modern companies use an applicant tracking system to assess candidates.
According to HRnews, 99% of organizations filter all resumes coming from applicants. For the hiring managers, it makes their job easier as it’s more effective and saves them time by ruling out unqualified candidates.
The question is, how do you optimize your resume in order to get past these machines? Let’s move onto our 6 simple ATS-friendly resume tips below!
1. Don’t waste space with a big contact section
The contact section should be one line long to save space for important information on your other resume sections such as your work experience. Don’t stretch it too far and keep it concise by only including the details that are necessary for the employer!
2. Title your sections intentionally
Frame your experience with a brief qualification or a targeted keyword. If you’re applying for a marketing position, you can simply say “Marketing Experience” for your relevant professional experience. Whatever you do on your resume, make it intentional. It tends to lead to creating a stronger application.
Another good example of being intentional with your resume is using white space strategically to highlight key points.
3. Use keywords — otherwise, fewer or no interviews
It’s your job to communicate that you can take on the job responsibilities and perform to a good standard. In translation, you need to be adding the relevant ATS keywords and required skills. If you’re not adding these requirements to your resume, you’ll find less incoming interviews from the companies you’ve applied to.
4. Include additional work experience
Only do this when it’s relevant. If you can’t make it relevant whatsoever, you may be better off omitting it from your ATS resume.
However, nearly all job seekers have experiences outside the workplace such as:
- Volunteering
- Side-projects and coursework
- Certifications
- Internship
- Training
We only suggest adding these experiences if they demonstrate relevance to a requirement of the job description.
5. Include Your Relevant Skills
At Rezi, we’ve had over 1,500 resumes reviewed. One of the key takeaways of seeing such diverse resumes is this:
Competitive job seekers have deep, transferable skills.
The less competitive job seekers have fewer and more common skills that hiring managers can find from almost anyone. If you have any other relevant skills that aren’t too common, use it to your advantage!
6. A one-page resume is enough
We fervently believe in a one-page resume, regardless of experience level. When you’re only including relevant experience, you’ll never need more than a single page. It also shows the hiring manager your level of ability as you’ve kept your application minimal and succinct.
For both the ATS and a human reader, it’s easier to read since it’s concise and well put together.
What Is The Best Resume Template for ATS?
We specialize in helping our users get past the ATS, land an interview, and secure a new career. Our ATS resume templates will help you overcome the first obstacle in the hiring process by giving you the format you need as well as a list of things you need to include.
Let’s break down our Database Administrator ATS optimized resume sample that got our candidate hired at Georgia Tech:
This resume example is a simple yet effective template and format for both the ATS and a human reader. They’ve also included action verbs into their application to highlight their skills and strengths.
As recruiters skim through their application, they’ll find resume buzzwords along the way too.
To see our ATS-optimized resume tips in action, let’s have a look at how each concept has been applied in the example above:
- The contact section is only one line long, containing only the essential details
- Each resume section has been titled in a way that’s relevant to the job position. In the education section, you’ll notice how I.T, tech, and admin keywords are included
- ATS keywords have been embedded throughout this ATS resume such as data analytics, administration, etc.
- Additional work experience has been included under the “projects” resume section
- All the relevant skills have been clearly outlined at the bottom
- The resume length is exactly one page long
We have more ready to use resume templates - great news is, all of them are ATS-compliant!
As they’re all designed to overcome the applicant tracking system, you only need to focus on writing the content of your resume. We’ve taken care of the ATS format for you so you don’t have to!
What is The Purpose of ATS in Resume?
Recruiters will use an ATS to assess candidates. As companies tend to receive a large volume of applicants, using this HR software allows them to save time by narrowing down the list based on who is most qualified and who matches the job description. That means they can focus on only hiring those that meet their requirements.
Optimizing Your Resume For The ATS With Rezi
Follow our resume tips and you’ll build a powerful, ATS-friendly resume that will get you an interview.
It’s easier when you start by using an ATS resume template and seeing what has worked for others. Taking that inspiration and using those ideas for your own helps you speed up the resume writing process as well as increase your chances.
The main thing to remember is including the keywords and skills to show you’re competent enough for the job vacancy.
Anything additional that’s relevant and shows you’re qualified is a must!
We understand that building a tailored resume every time you make a new application isn’t easy. That’s why we’ve made it easier for you with our AI keyword targeting tool and ATS templates.
We’re trusted by over 120,000 job seekers. Every time a user builds a resume with Rezi, they have a 62.18% chance for an interview!
In short, watch the video below to see how it works:
It takes less than a minute!
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This article's author, Astley, is an avid content marketer who specializes as an SaaS copywriter. Learn more at Minimalist Copy